A CENTURIES-OLD Yuletide tradition dating from Pagan times was celebrated across Ireland yesterday, including in west Belfast.
Marked in many European countries on December 26, Wren Day – or Lá an Dreoilín, as Gaeilge – is a ritual in which a wren, these days a fake one, is hunted.
In what is regarded by many as a midwinter fertility rite, the captured bird is placed on top of a decorated pole before crowds of mummers or strawboys, sometimes called the wrenboys, celebrate the wren.
The wren is a common bird in Ireland and is known for its unusually loud, vibrant songs. Males make several nests, from which the female chooses one in which to lay her eggs.
The groups of mummers traditionally sacrificed the wren and attached it to a holly branch. They would then go to each home asking for money, with those who refused sometimes threatened with having the bird buried on their doorstep.
The practice is associated with Celtic heritage and mumming, a practice that often met with the disapproval of the Catholic Church.
In west Belfast, Cleamairí Feirste - the Belfast Wren Boys – performed their ritual close to the Shaw's Road Gaeltacht.
